Unbalnced
by Metal GarurumonDragonball51
Summary: An evil force is stealing pureheart crystals, and has turned Artemis into it's monster slave.


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Unbalanced

By Metal Garurumon/Dragonball#5

Artemis lay curled up on Minako's bed. He had been having disturbing nightmares for weeks now, and each time, the dream became more vivid. A red crystal, a pure heart crystal, would float in front of him. Then, a hand would move through the crystal, and it would turn black, causing extreme pain. He shuddered at the thought of his nightmare. As this rather unusual train of thought began to run through his mind, Artemis heard a knock on the door. "Looks like someone's decided to pay a visit," The moon cat yawned. Stretching out his body, yawning loudly, Artemis walked over to the door. Checking through the keyhole at the door(after all, a cat answering the door would seem strange to some people) first, Artemis plopped down. No one was there. But SOMEONE was knocking on the door. "Oh, Artemis, are you going to let me in?", spoke a familiar voice. "OH! Luna!", Artemis called out surprised. Opening the pet door, the white moon cat allowed his female black counterpart to enter. "Sorry about that," Artemis apologized. "I figured it was a human knocking." Luna just looked at him. Artemis could only blush, embarrassed. "So, um, what brings you here?" He asked, a little shy. "Nothing much. I just wanted to remind you Serena and the others are meeting later today at 12:00 at Rei's temple.", Luna replied. Artemis hung his head. "Oh..." Luna looked at him inquisitively. "Are you OK?" She asked. Artemis nodded. "I'm fine. Just got a little cold." Luna looked at him again, but shook her head and went out the door. "Don't forget, remind Mina!" She called back. Artemis sighed heavily as she disappeared into the city, heading home no doubt. He was so sure she was returning his strong feelings for her back at the airport, but now, the white cat was positive his love for Luna went unreturned.

Elsewhere, a shadowy figure watched over the bustling streets of Tokyo that stood before it. It's mouth curled into a sadictive smile. "Soon, all with pure hearts will be mine to command." It leapt forth from it's perch upon the tall steel building, flying forth, eagerly awaiting it's feast.

"ARTEMIS!!! YOU REALLY DID IT THIS TIME!" Mina cried out out her feline guardian as both ran for the meeting. "Hey, give me a break, I was just a little distracted and forgot we had that meeting, OK?" Artemis called back, obviously aggravated at his own fallous mistake. "YOU'RE JUST LUCKY..." Mina began, but was unable to finish as she collided into...into...something or other, she wasn't sure what. "Mina?" Artemis called out, "Are you OK?" As soon as his question was finished, Artemis heard the answer. Minako screamed out at the top of her lungs. "Hang on, Mina!" Artemis called to her bravely. Rushing forward, Artemis saw Minako laying at the feet of a hideous...thing. A walking shadow of twisted form would best describe the creature. In fact, it looked slightly familiar... but now was not the time! Mina was in danger! "Are you OK?" Artemis asked, moving to Minako's side. "I'm fine, but that thing won't be! VENUS STAR POWER!" Minako thrust her hand outwards, her fingers glowing golden. Suddenly, a gold light encircled her. She now wore an orange fuku and ribbon, with a short orange collar. long white boots caressed her legs, and gloves her arms. No longer was she Minako. She was Sailor Venus. "I don't know who or what you are, but one thing's for sure: You're definitely not friendly. And so, in the name of Venus, I will punish you!" Sailor Venus cried towards the shadowy creature, pointing her finger towards it. "Ah, but you're not who I want." The creature spoke. "Well, whoever it is you do want, you aren't getting him!" Sailor Venus spoke. Raising her hand and pointing out her pointer finger, She cried out, "VENUS...CRESCENT BEAM...SMASH!!" Two small crescent shaped beams of energy collided at her finger tip, forming a single golden light that shot straight at the creature. However, the shadow creature opened up, revealing a pit of darkness inside of it, and swallowed the beam whole. Venus stepped back slightly at this. "Whoa, I've never seen that happen before!" The creature leapt forth, two sharp-clawed hands bared. It was too fast to evade, too strong to block...Venus awaited the stinging pain that was sure to follow... but it never came. Noticing this, Venus heard a familiar voice call out in anguish. "ARTEMIS!!" Venus shouted. Indeed, the white moon cat lay wounded before she whom he had sworn to guide and protect, shiny fur stained in blood. "Oh...no..." She sobbed, staring down at the limp cat. As tears started to form in her eyes, Venus shouted, "THAT'S IT!! YOU'RE MINE!" But there was no one to hear her threat. The creature had vanished. Artemis lay, still bleeding. Venus turned back to normal, and picked up her old guardian friend. "Hang in there, pal, help is on the way."

Usagi Tsukino chomped down on her fifteenth rice cake in five minutes. "(gulp) Is Minako even coming? She's hours late!" She whined as she swallowed the rice cake. "Of course Minako's coming, I'll bet that ol' klutz Artemis just forgot to tell her." Luna said. Rei, Ami, and Makoto all sat elsewhere, doing their own things. Makoto was reading a magazine article, Ami studying her homework, and Rei meditating. But all this was shattered by a piercing yell, "GUYS!! CAN YOU HEAR ME? GET DOWN HERE NOW!!" It was Minako, and she sounded panicked. "Whoa, Minako, are you OK?" Makoto asked as she reached the long haired blonde. "It's(pant) Artemis(pant), he's hurt(pant)." She gasped in response, revealing the cradled cat still in her arms. "Whoa, what the heck happened to him, Minako?" Rei asked, walking up in time to see the bloodied Artemis. "Something attacked us...it was able to absorb my crescent beam." Minako said, breath fully regained. "This creature, what'd it look like?" Ami asked, stepping forward next. "It was just this big, twisted...shadow, and it wants someone for something." She answered. "Sounds pretty dangerous." Usagi said, now also with the others. "It is. It would've cut me to ribbons, but Artemis took the attack for me..." Minako said, starting to cry again. "Oh...god..." Came a small voice. It was Luna, staring up at Artemis. "Is he...he isn't..." She questioned, unable to finish. Minako shook her head. "I'm not sure. We need to do something!!" She cried out. 

The veterinarian stepped out from her room. Minako walked alongside her, and both greeted the four waiting girls, as well as a pacing Luna. "Well, it was quite a scuffle your cat got into", the vet said, "but he's OK overall. He'll need a while to fully heal, of course, but he'll live." She then walked back into her office. Artemis, still in Minako's arms, poked his head out to greet the girls. "Hi, everyone." He said, his voice weak. "Hey, Minako, he's OK!" Usagi cried cheerfully. "Yeah he is, but I've got something to tell you...", Minako started, then looking down at Artemis, finished, "In private!" Artemis slowly got off her curled arms. "OK here, there's something private I want to do too..." He said, looking at Luna. Although he didn't know it, the black moon cat was currently suppressing the urge to run over to him and hug him in delight. The two cats walked into the other room, while Minako huddled the others around her. "What is is, Minako?" Makoto asked. "Something weird is going on here. Artemis is alive, right?" She answered in a hushed tone. "Yeah, so?" Usagi questioned, taking Minako's gesture of silence and lowering her own voice to a whisper. "Well, get this, when he was in the ER, he had no pulse reading! If he hadn't woken up when he did, the vet would've buried him." Minako waited as the group reacted. "Was the machine hooked up?" Ami asked, looking for a rational explanation. "It was fully operational. Something bad's happening, guys, and I'm worried Artemis may have gotten himself caught in the middle of it." Rei shook her had. "Calm down, Minako. That pulse machine getting no reading is no need to get panicked, but we should look into it." Minako nodded. 

"You say you have something to tell me privately, Artemis?" Luna asked the white moon cat. "As a matter of fact, yes. Luna, when I saved Minako, I came pretty close to dieing..." He started. He stared at her for a moment, then continued, "...and I realized that I'd die without lifting a great weight off my shoulders, that I'd never have a chance to tell you..." He stopped again. "Tell me what?" Luna asked. Artemis opened his mouth to finish, when the door behind the two cats opened and the five girls came in. 

Minako tenderly lifted Artemis into her arms, and Usagi scooped Luna up too. Artemis watched, upset, as the group marched out of the vet, cursing his shy nature to no ends.

It was night again. Artemis, bandaged up, lay besides Minako, experiencing the nightmare again...but it was stronger now, different... Artemis floated in front f his blackened purehart crystal, the pain in his body growing stronger and stronger. He could feel his essence shifting, his form changing. "Bring me those who bear the purehart crystal, my pet..." A voice spoke in the darkness. Although he felt he shouldn't, Artemis nodded. "Yes, Master"...

Artemis awoke. The pain...the horrible pain...it shot through his body like a volt of electricity. His legs extended, his eyes bulged, his fangs grew, his claws enlarged... as the bandages that covered the now vanished wounds fell apart, Artemis emerged a savage, tiger-like beast. Remembering his master's commands, Artemis swiftly left Minako's house...

The morning arose. Usagi snored loudly, when a ringing pierced a wondrous dream... Getting up quickly, Usagi lifted the phone. "(yawn)Tsukino residence, Usagi speaking, hello?" "Usagi? It's Minako!! Artemis is missing, and his bandages are tattered everywhere!!" 

It was a wondrous morning, as three young women discussed among each other in a small coffee house. "So, you say you've been picking up a strange power, Michiru?" Meiou Setsuna asked, sipping from her cup. "Hai, and it's strong, very strong." Kaiou Michiru responded. Ten'ou Haruka looked up at her lover. "Perhaps we should investigate?" She asked. "I'm not sure...I've never really felt something quite like this before...if we do investigate, we should be careful." 

"It's not really like Artemis to run away." Makoto spoke from up in a small tree. "You think I don't know that? He IS my cat, you know!!" Minako snapped back, cross. "Keep your cool, Minako, we mustn't panic. If he did run off, he's bound to come back." Ami patted her friend on the shoulder. Minako took a deep breath, then sighed in defeat. "OK, I guess..." She admitted. Suddenly, Rei came out of Ami's house, where the five had met as soon as Artemis's disappearance was reported. "Guys, you'll want to see this!!" 

"Would you look at that..." Usagi said, looking at the list of missing people that flashed across the television screen. "Those are all people with purehart crystals!" Ami said. "Hey, you're right!" Minako said, nervous.(AN:I don't know all the pureheart bearer's names, so I can't list 'em.^_^) "Now I KNOW something fishy's going on, and I'll bet that thing that attacked Artemis has something to do with it!" "I'll bet his disappearance is linked to this too." Ami said. "Hey, guys, I'm gonna check on Luna."

Usagi said, walking to the other room.

The black moon cat weeped upon her paws. She had to be strong, she reminded herself. She had to be strong, she repeated over and over, but no matter how she tried, she just couldn't. Artemis, the person she loved above all others, was wounded, missing, and could very well be dead. She couldn't remain strong, no matter how hard she tried. "Luna?" An inquisitive voice came from behind. "Are you OK?" It was Usagi, Luna knew. She had checked on her multiple times before. It helped a little bit to confide in someone, but it didn't bring Artemis back. "I'm just fine Usagi, thank you." She lied. "Oh, come on, Luna, I can see right through you. You're rally nervous, aren't you?" Usagi interrogated. Luna held back the tears for a moment. Then she decided she had to let someone know. "Oh, Usagi, what if he ran away because he felt I didn't care about him? What if...what if he hates me now? I couldn't live with that, Usagi, I just couldn't..." She nuzzled against Usagi's arms. "Luna, Artemis is too nice a, um, cat to do that. Besides, he may not have run away at all." Usagi regretted saying that last part, as Luna's tears became worse. "But we'll find him, anyway, I promise." She quickly reassured her old cat friend. Luna looked up at her. She could be a ditz, a bit mean, but when Usagi Tsukino made a promise, she kept it. Luna knew she had a heart of gold, and that knowledge eased the pain a bit. "Thank you, Usagi." She purred.

Sailor Pluto stood upon the top of Tokyo tower. "Sense anything yet, Michiru?" She called to Michiru, now Sailor Neptune. "I'm getting something from over there." She said, pointing towards a docking area. "Well, let's check it out." Haruka, now Sailor Uranus, responded. The three outer senshi slid down the tower's girders to the area Neptune had pointed to. 

A usually peaceful place, the Tokyo docking bay had an unusual visitor. A giant white tiger walked across the dock, carrying several pureheart crystals in it's mouth. It's master called for it, and it responded. However, it's ears suddenly perked at the arrival of three unexpected guests. "What's a tiger doing here?" One asked, carrying a tall staff, and with long, dark green hair. "I don't know, but it's got pureheart crystals with it." Another, a sandy blonde, said. "That's odd. We'd better get them back." The third, this one with a sea green hair, finished. The tiger snarled as they approached. Before any could move, it dropped the crystals to the ground. The crystals vanished. Without it's baggage, the tiger actually spoke to the three intruders. After looking them over, it said,"Ah, the three outer senshi. I suggest you stay out of my way if you want to live." The tiger knew now who all three intruders were. The one with the staff was Sailor Pluto, the sandy blonde was Uranus, and the sea green haired one was Sailor Neptune. "A talking tiger?" Pluto asked, a little surprised. "It's nothing too new." Uranus said. "Yeah, there are two other talking cats, Luna and Artemis." At this, Neptune noticed something she looked over before. The tiger had a strange crescent on it's forehead. It was also white furred, but it couldn't be... But before she could finish her thought, Neptune was assaulted by the tiger. It's sharp claws threatened to tear her to ribbons, but she was ready. Leaping out of the way, she attacked. "NEPTUNE...DEEP...SUBMERGE!!" She cried out, slamming her fist into the ground, releasing a blue, planet shaped orb at the tiger. The beast gracefully moved out of the blast's way, then attacked again. "PLUTO...DEATH...SCREAM!!" An orb of purple(it IS purple, right?) shot at the tiger. It was hit, but immediatley got back on it's feet. "You'll pay for THAT, you little ...!!" The giant cat roared "THUNDER...STREAM...ROAR!"

Opening it's mouth, the tiger shot forth a steak of pitch black thunder. "URANUS...PLANET...SHAKING!!" Sailor Uranus shouted, smashing her fist to the ground, releasing an orange orb to counter the attack. However, the lightning cut through Uranus' attack. All three senshi dodged, but the explosion knocked all of them on their faces. "Ugh, what'd he hit us with?" Uranus questioned angrily. "I don't know, but it's gone now...whoever it was." Neptune said. "I don't like this." Pluto said. Neptune suddenly stirred. "BEHIND US!!" She cried. Before the group could react, the huge white tiger leapt down upon the outer senshi, claws beared, tearing at them. Pluto then put out her staff. "Let's get out of here." In a flash, the trio dissapeared. "Well, I missed one oppurtunity, but there will be others." The tiger growled. 

Rei Hino sat, concentrating, searching the flames in front of her for Artemis. Minako had requested it, and Rei saw no objections. The fires began to form an image. A place. It was dark. Very dark. "Good lord...this place...even from here, this place gives off a sense of darkness and despair. Is this truly where Artemis is?" Rei questioned the fire. When the image did not leave, she knew what she had to do.

"Rei, this seems a little odd." Ami said, transformed into Sailor Mercury now. "Yeah," Makoto, Sailor Jupiter, said,"this is unessecary just to find a lost kitten."

"Well, he just so happens to be MY lost kitten, so I say we just follow Rei." Minako, Sailor Venus, said. "Will you three pipe down?" Rei, now Sailor Mars, hissed silently. "I'm trying to concentrate." Usagi, Sailor Moon, had been relatively quiet, carrying Luna, who had insisted in coming along. She mostly just petted the black moon cat to keep her calm. "Here!!" Mars stopped, slightly surprising the others. "Where?" Jupiter asked, spinning around, searching for Artemis or some kind of danger. "This is the place the fire showed me." Mars pointed to the ground of the dock beneath them. "Uh, Rei, this is a dock, not some black pit like the one you described..." But just as Sailor Moon uttered her first words of the night's chase, the ground beneath the group opened up, swallowing them into a world of pitch black. "Told ya so." Mars muttered silently as the group got up off the...ground...they'd fallen on to. "AHH!" Sailor Moon cried out. "What is it?" Jupiter asked, immediatly taking the defensive. Soon, all the sailor senshi saw why Sailor Moon was so surprised. She was no longer holding Luna, but a full grown, beautiful woman with long, flowing black hair and a moon crescent on her forehead. "What...how'd I become human again?" Luna asked, also surprised at her new shape. "Because, this shadow world allowed you to." A voice spoke in the shadows. "W...who's there?" Sailor Moon questioned, putting Luna down. From the shadows, her answer came. Out walked a huge, bulking, savage looking white tiger. "Good heavens..." Mercury spoke in disbelief. Luna looked over the tiger. There was something familiar about him... but before she could fully understand what, the tiger lunged forward at the senshi. "SCATTER!!" Sailor Moon cried out to her comrades. Alas, the tiger was fast, and pinned down Mars before she could get away. "Urg, get off me, you...", but she did not finish. The tiger slammed it's enormous paw into her head, knocking her out cold. "Lucky I didn't have my claws popped." The beast chuckled. "Why you... JUPITER...THUNDER CLOUD...ZAP!!!" Jupiter screamed in rage, tossing a ball of electricity at the tiger. However, the tiger now demonstrated amazing speed, moving out of the way of the attack, then charging into Jupiter's stomach, winding her, and lashing her down with it's tail. " Girls, keep him busy. I'm going to do an anlaysis on this thing." Mercury spoke, generating her visor and taking out her lab top. "You got it, Ami." Venus said. "Down, kitty, down! VENUS...LOVE CHAIN...ENCIRCLE!!!" from Venus's hand, a gold chain length, with heart-shaped links, appeared. The chains ensnared the tiger. "Strange. It was fast enough to dodge it, but it didn't. Why?" Sailor Moon wondered. "Phew, that was close. Ami, what've you got?" Venus called back to her partner, still typing furiously into her lab top. "This is weird. I'm getting negative energy readings, but the computer identifies the tiger as a being of pure energy." Mercury observed. "One mystery after another. OK, time to get down to buisness. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH ARTEMIS, CREEP?" Venus spat into the wrapped tiger's face. "Wouldn't you like to know!" The beast roared as it broke free of the chains. "VENUS, RUN!!" Moon shouted. Venus nodded, leaping away from the beast. Elsewhere, Luna tended to the two wounded scouts. "This is incredible...two scouts beaten with ease, by such an opponent...why does he seem so familiar?" Luna spoke to herself as she lifted Jupiter to her feet, and helped a groggy Mars get back up. "Unless...of course!! It's..." Luna started. Ami finally finished the observations. "It doesn't seem possible, but that thing is..." Ami spoke. "ARTEMIS!!" The two finished in unison. Those who heard it couldn't believe it. "Artemis? This tiger is Art..." Venus froze to ask her question, but what had been deduced to be Artemis attacked her. Pinning her to the ground, it growled into her face, "Surprised, Minako?" "Artemis, it really IS you...but...but how...why?" Venus said. Tears formed in her eyes, but Artemis didn't seem to truly care. "Sorry, but that would be telling." Artemis raised it's claws upwards, but as they thrust down, a familiar voice cried out a familiar attack. "URANUS...PLANET...SHAKING!!!" As the ground beneath it was torn to pieces, the golden orp of Sailor Uranus' attack came rushing towards Artemis. Although the beast leapt out of it's path, it was struck down by the staff of Sailor Pluto. Grasping to the ground upon his return to it, Artemis was bowled over by the energy orb of Sailor Neptune. Shocked and a little less on the defense, the attack proved more effective then it would have normally. "We knew we'd have to step in sooner or later." Uranus said, sliding down from her hiding spot in the shadow. She was joined by Pluto and Neptune. "I see you(urk) finally decided to help(ugh) out." Mars said, rising to her full stature. "It looked like you needed it." Uranus said. "STAY OUT OF THIS!!!" Artemis cried, his voice mixing with his furious roar as he got back to his feet. The senshi prepared to fight, Artemis bared his claws and fangs, and just as it seemed all would be said and done there and then, a figure appeared before Artemis. "Don't..." She spoke. "Back away, Luna. I will go through you to get to them. It is my master's wishes to do so, and I must..." Artemis growled, but Luna cut him off before he could finish. "And who IS your master, Artemis? Tell me, please..." "I am." A shadowy new voice answered Luna's venture. From the darkness, two red eyes appeared out of nowhere. Then, a body, one Venus was too familiar with. "That's the thing that attacked me before!!!" She called. "It's not possible..." Pluto whispered. "Ah, Sailor Pluto, you've finally left your cooped up home, the time chamber. Wondrous, I so wanted to catch up on old times when Tomoe freed me." The shadow spoke. "Tomoe? What's HE got to do with this?" Sailor Moon asked. "Allow me to explain." The figure started. "Stories later, it's time to kick your butt!!" Venus cried out. "Spare mr your pathetic attempt to destroy me, you barely managed to get by my pet." The shadow snorted. Raising it's hand, the shadow shot forth a shadowy smoke from his palm. The senshi were wrapped, and despite their stuggling, could not escape. Luna was also trapped. "Now, about my history, I'd love to tell you. It gives me such joy to watch others wallow in misery. You see, Back in the days of the silver millenium, I walked free. I, Black Heart, destroyer of love and dreams. All those who felt the sting of my claws would fall under my power, their once pure hearts turned black as smoke. Impure ones were much easier to manipulate. But as my reign began, Queen Serenity sealed me away on Earth using the ginzuishou. And so, there I slept, dormant and with no hearts to destroy. Until the day that foolish Tomoe broke my seal. He had become desperate to claim victory against you, and offered revenge on Serenity if I helped. He had no idea what he was getting into. I refused, and he threatened to reseal me, but I knew he had not the power. So, I left him, erasing his memory of me, and waiting until his defeat came to begin my assault. That Ice Kaguya stalled me a little, but I finally got around to doing my job. Now, the purehearts are mine thanks to Artemis, and once i have yours, vengeance and the world will be mine." With the end of his speech, a great, demonic laughter filled the air. "Artemis, let us go. He's using you, you must free us!" Luna cried out desperately. "Don't bother reaching out to him, Luna, he's already gone. I've fought this creature before, I know what it can do." Pluto spoke to the struggling cat-turned-human. "All of Artemis' purity, goodness, kindness, it's all been absorbed and destroyed in the eternal shadow of that beast." Pluto seemed to avoid the use of Black Heart's name. "So, Artemis is...dead?" Venus asked in a hushed, shocked tone. "As far as we can tell, yes. I'm sorry, but it's too late for him." 

Pluto's response left the entire group, except her two companions, Uranus and Neptune, who were used to such news, silent. "Oh, Pluto, you're priceless. Now that that's out of the way, it's time for me to take your pureheart crystals away." Blackheart reached forth, his hand hovering in front of the eight senshi, and of course, Luna, as it wondered around, choosing which one to take into it's darkness first. At last, the hand halted in front of... Sailor Mercury. "AMI!" Moon called to her friend as the blackened hand of the demon reached toward The senshi of Mercury. As she struggled in vain, the hand drew closer, it's claws extending, ready for the kill. A riff of air, wind torn apart, filled the room, as, in a streak of red, a single rose tore through the sky. Landing in Black heart's hand, the rose stood straight. "A rose? Tuxedo Kamen!" Moon cried joyously.

Indeed, now floating down from the shadowy sky, black and red cape flowing, eyes hidden behind white glasses, was Tuxedo Kamen. "Stealing the purity of others is a terrible crime, and no crime as terrible as that can go unpunished." He announced, landing upon what would have been a floor, had pitch black not disguised it. "Another intruder! Master, allow me to destroy him." Artemis looked up to the flowing shadow of Black heart. If not for his red eyes, it would have been impossible to tell if Black Heart was nodding, and even then, you would need keen eye sight to notice their slight motion up and down. Fortunately for himself, Artemis had such an advantage, and once more was on the move. Burrowing deep ino his suit, Tuxedo Kamen removed a short stick, which grew and extended into a full length pole. Black smoke arose from the ground, forming a throne upon which Black heart sat, watching the battle before him. As the eight senshi watched as well, a small voice spoke from behind. "Hold on, I'll have you out in a jiffy." "Chibi-Usa." Moon knew her future daughter's voice. "Small lady." Pluto knew it as well. "Hi, Usagi. Hi Puu." Pluto felt slight embarassment at the use of Small lady's childish nickname, but now was not the time. "Chibi-Usa, how are you gonna get us out of here?" Mars asked. "Simple. I've been practicing my attack, and it's stronger now." Sailor Chibi-Moon said. Winking, she rasised out her small magi wand, then cried forth, "PINK...SUGAR...HEART...ATTACK!!" The wand glowed pink, then released a streaming, heart-shaped ray. The ray collided into the black cloud that held the senshi prisoner. As it did so, it broke into pieces, but the cloud did not shiver. "Uh-oh..." She whispered. "No, no, wait..." Moon said. "I think I can move my hands now." INdeed, Sailor Moon's hand wiggled around. "If I can reach my wand..." She sturggled her hands into her suit..."Got it!" She said, silently as not to attract Black Heart's attention.

"Here we go! MOON...SPIRAL...HEART...ATTACK!!!" In a brilliant flash of pink light, the shadows around the senshi shattered, and even the shadow world they were in was illuminated by the flowing pink energy. However, such an event did not go unnoticed. Turning from the fight he had been thoughroughly enjoying, Black Heart looked, shocked, at the nine senshi before him. Artemis, who held a bloodied Tuxedo Kamen to the ground( a pole, a rose, and a top aren't that great a defense._.), also looked away from his quarry at this event. "Kamen-sama!" Moon called out to her fallen lover. "We'll rescue him!" Venus said. She, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter dashed off to help the fallen protector. "No, wait, let me help!" Luna called, running after them. The remaining five stood before the twisting shadow. "You think you've won? Fools!! I still have the pureheart crystals!!! As for my base, it's discovery is irrelevant. I'll be leaving it behind, you included." His form twisted into a spiral, becoming thinner and thinner and thinner, until, at last, his whole body vanished, along with the crystals. Artemis leapt off his prey, and also dissapeared. "Artemis..." Luna whispered to the now gone tiger. "Hang in there, Mamoru." Mars said, pulling a slumped Tuxedo Kamen onto her back. "Th..thanks, Rei." He muttered. "We need to get him to a hospital, fast!!" Mercury said, after scanning Tuxedo Kamen with her lap top. "But how do we get out of here?" Neptune asked. "We don't. With out it's master to sustain it, this whole world will fall apart." Pluto spoke. "The model of optimism today, aren't we?" Jupiter spat back. "Now's not the time, girls!" Moon said, disrupting the fight that was surely brewing. "This world... it can transform everything around it...even me. Everything works differently." Luna spoke to herself, contemplating her move. At that moment, the entire world around them shook violently. "It's collapsing!!!" Mercury called out. "Here goes..." Luna whispered. As chunks of black fell, Luna, almost not of her own will, walked into the center of the room. "GREAT...BRIGHTENESS...FLASH!!!" As her words echoed, a great light emerged from her body, and all was white...

"Ugh... what happened?" Sailor Mars arose first, almost slipping, although on what, she was unsure. The other senshi lay sprawled around the dock. Unscarred, the dock looked as if nothing had happened. Luna, now a cat again, was running around desperately. As the other senshi arose, it was to her calls of, "ARTEMIS!!! ARTEMIS!!! WHERE ARE YOU? COME BACK!!!" Sailor Moon felt pity for the crying cat, but immediatley remembered, "Mamoru!! He's still hurt!!!"

"Well, Mr. Chiba's condition is stable, but we'd like him to stay in the hospital for a little while to heal." The doctor said to Usagi. "Thank you so much, sir." She said, bowing, then quickly heading home, safe with the knowledge that her loved one was OK, but knowing someone else needed her now. 

Usagi gently stroked Luna. "Now I know how you felt when Mamoru was captured by Queen Beryl." She moaned into Usagi's skirt. "We'll find a way to rescue Artemis, Luna, I promise." Luna grinned. When Usagi Tsukino made a promise, she kept it.

Well that's the end. I won't make a sequel until this story gets 10 positive reviews, so there. Ta.


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